Painting the unseen, one shade at a time #acnotes

#acnotes on Alaipayuthe's - Sakhiye

Have you tried to explaining air to someone? Maybe, to a kid? Well, one can imagine how challenging it could be. Or for that matter, how many questions would follow?
To prove the existence of the unseen is a feat. Well, my guess is that this song too, in a way, tries to do that. In this case, the unseen phenomenon being love. And how does the lyricist* try to make the intangible, tangible?! By infusing a prism of shades to the emotion. His words paint his beloved in a range of hues. Talk about that crazy thing called love and how it makes one go crazier. Now, let's trace down one shade after another. How each shade has several variants and each of it is connected to a simile. And the closing argument is a metaphor or a figurative comparison to the beloved.
I won't delve deeper into the similes as it would become an exercise of translation (the video shared below has subtitles), so I'll move straight to the end association of each shade and how it relates to the beloved.

Firstly, green to signal her approval. Well, consent is quite crucial, no doubt.

Then we proceed to red that represents her anger.

Yellow, and its glow that brims /beams in her heart.

Followed by blue and how her eyes gleam or reflect those tints of blue.

And, that blue darkens to black. No surprise there, it describes her cascading tresses.

For the final touch, a contrast, the pristine white, and what best to compare that to than her mind or conscience that's without any blemishes. Perhaps, a cliche, no doubt. Yet, it complements. And needless to say, cliches work, hence they turn into a cliche.

Now, enters the painter - ARR. He smears these colours in accord, on the audio canvas. A subtle nod to a key character in the movie can be heard (listen closely at 00:12 that cues a train siren and recurs as you listen). The rhythm is also as though the song is ushered over railway tracks, it speeds up and slows down, then comes to a halt midway when you hear the bass groove. It then changes tracks. And picks up speed again. Then there's an elusive flute loop that repeats. Also, the plucking of strings and the reggae style that forms the backbone for the entire composition.

Ahem! I guess you're wondering if I would ever mention the brilliantly vivid, PC Sriram's camera work, but no. There's enough said about is for the last 24+ years. So I choose to focus on the music and lyrics, consciously. .

The next time, you listen to this song, try to do this with your eyes closed tight. While you're at it, imagine you're seated by an open window of a train. Let me know, if you could feel the breeze brush your face. If you could still see the six shades. Or, if there's a seventh shade you chance upon. Perhaps, that's your shade for love.

https://lynkify.in/song/pachai-nirame/qG8mYV3l

*not going to glorify the lyricist, but merely the lyrics for obvious reasons of trying to separate the art from the artist.

#acnotes